EDITORIAL; Little Cal panel needs kick-start

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| Thursday, November 20, 2008 | (6 comment(s))

The Little Calumet River Basin Development Commission has reached the point when the "lead, follow or get out of the way" admonition applies.

In the wake of the catastrophic flooding last summer, which was directly tied to the failure to complete the levee system on time, the commission promptly forced out Executive Director Dan Gardner.

It has hired Jody Melton, who successfully led the Kankakee River Basin Commission, to be executive director, and the staff has been retained.

Now there's a push to spend $20,000 on a project manager to serve for the remainder of the year. That amounts to $20,000 for a month's work -- hardly advisable when the commission has just over $100,000 left to its name.

It is even more inadvisable when considering that the commission is poised to hire someone with strong political connections to do that work.

What the commission needs instead is a project manager who will complete the project, not work just until the end of the year.

A project manager is experienced at completing projects on time without exceeding the budget -- something the Little Calumet commission has no experience doing.

The Little Calumet levee project has been dragging on for decades now, long past the expected completion date, and the cost has escalated far beyond the amount originally projected.

Now is the perfect time to go shopping for a project manager. The construction industry is hurting bad because of the credit crunch, so the cost of hiring someone for that position should be favorable. And there are plenty of people with experience -- and without political connections -- looking for work.

Gov. Mitch Daniels has four appointments to the seven-member board. Three of those positions are newly filled. If any of his appointees doesn't have the same eagerness for a speedy, under-budget completion that Daniels has expressed, he should replace them.

Daniels and U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, who has secured the lion's share of the financing for this project, need to take control of the commission. They're paying for the project, so they have a vested interest in its success.

If commission members need to be replaced to get this work done quickly, so be it. If staff members need to be replaced, so be it.

The rains will come again, regardless of whether the commission has made progress toward completion of the project. There is much at stake. Just ask the homeowners and affected business owners.

Further delay is inexcusable.

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river rat wrote on Nov 20, 2008 9:43 PM:

" Jody Melton? "successfully led" the KRBC?

right.... only if your definition of successful is maintaining the status quo, increased flooding, increased sedimentation, Indiana silt destroying the healthy Illinois portion of the river.

He is nothing but another ineffective, lifelong bureaucrat in northwest Indiana.

No wait... that makes him perfect for the Little Calumet River gig! "

Mark Kinne wrote on Nov 20, 2008 10:54 AM:

" Payment of commissioners should be withheld until project is complete. This should speed up the process since they would have to wait to be paid when work has been done. This is how it works in the private sector. "

Lake Cnty wrote on Nov 20, 2008 7:38 AM:

" Why should Mitch care about this goofy county? He's done more than any Dem governor for this area and the people still reject him at the polls. This county gets the kind of government it deserves. "

Water Logged wrote on Nov 20, 2008 7:37 AM:

" It would nice to see a list of all the people on the commission, past, present and proposed along with their salaries and benefits and full disclosure of their political affiliations. Same with the staff. But Lake County be what it is is and isn'nt I would lay a bet that everyone involved including Visclosky and the contractors are treating this as a lifetime gig. What better way to line your pockets with tax payer's hard earned cash. "

Wet Hen wrote on Nov 20, 2008 7:08 AM:

" Why should they jump to action now when they have been dragging their feet for too many years.
And what has the gov got to say about this project? "

had enough wrote on Nov 20, 2008 7:00 AM:

" a project review (independent)must be done first. this project is over 20 years old and there are some areas that will not benefit from the levee construction. there are areas that do not need a levee. money is very scarce so focus on the areas that need this project. also, focus on maintenance of the present levees-poor maintenance was a major reason for the past flooding. "

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